Briscoe left Dark Shadows abruptly in 1970 after suffering a "mental breakdown" (according to his sister, Bonny Jenkins) and eventually withdrew from the acting profession and relocated to live with family inMemphis. The deaths of his parents hit him badly. Diagnosed with bipolar disorder, and suffering from nervous disorders, manic-depression and drug problems, Briscoe settled into a reclusive lifestyle. Declared unable to work for a living by a psychiatrist, he managed to act occasionally in local theatre until the 1980s and worked for a time as a gas station attendant.[1]